Will it ever end?

Boris Johnson addressed a disheartened nation this evening to lay out the four-week delay to the final lifting of lockdown restrictions. 

“Now is the time to ease off the accelerator”, said the PM, as he postponed the 21 June freedom date, meaning capacity limits will remain in venues including pubs and cinemas and nightclub doors will stay firmly shut.

More than 70 per cent of adults in the UK have already had their first vaccine, while just over 50 per cent have had both jabs. But according to Johnson, the NHS needs “a few more crucial weeks to get the jabs into the arms of the people who need them.” By 19 July, our new unlocking date, the government is aiming to vaccinate the entire adult population, and to give double doses to two thirds.

With fears about the Delta variant mounting for weeks, the announcement comes as no great surprise. The current rate of Covid infections in England has climbed to 67 cases per 100,000 people – the highest level since 2 March. (Though this is still far below the peak of the second wave when the figure rose as high as 680 per 100,000.)

While many in the hospitality sector have been preparing for the worst, it doesn’t make the news any less crushing. For some of us, the delay may feel like a small inconvenience. But businesses which were already on a financial cliff edge will pay a much heavier price. 

Although most pubs and restaurants have appeared lively in recent weeks, many are still failing to break even because of capacity restrictions. UK Hospitality estimates that a one-month delay will cost the sector around £3bn in lost sales, while the trade body LIVE predicts it will lead to the cancellation of around 5,000 planned events.

The government will also need to consider extending protection for those affected – such as the moratorium on commercial landlords evicting small businesses, which is set to expire. 

The delay has generated speculation over whether we’ll even see the back of restrictions on 19 July – who knows what brand new variant could be stoking fears by then. Like the horizon, we seem to be edging closer to the date when restrictions cease, but it remains just out of reach.

Johnson says he is confident that we will not need to go beyond the four-week delay. We’ve heard that one before. 

Finally curtains for Bibi

Benjamin Netanyahu took the wrong seat in Israel’s parliament today, and had to be reminded that he was now a member of the opposition, after his 12 years in power came to an end.

Israeli’s longest-serving prime minister has been forced out of office after a coalition of parties won a confidence vote by a margin of just one seat last night. 

Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing nationalist Yamina party, will head the coalition until September 2023, when he will hand over power to Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, for two years. 

Bennet, 49, has vowed to unite a nation burdened by years of political stalemate. His new government will be different from any which has preceded it in Israel’s 73-year history, but the road ahead will present abundant challenges. 

The coalition contains parties with stark ideological differences and there are set to be many clashes over Palestine. The alliance includes Raam, the first independent Arab party to be part of a ruling coalition, as well as right-wing parties Yamina and New Hope which are staunch defenders of Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

Policies such as same-sex marriage will also cause friction. Raam is against advancing a gay rights agenda for religious reasons, but this is a priority for some of the other parties within the coalition. 

Netanyahu, who will remain in the opposition chair as head of the right-wing Likud party, will be eager to exploit these weaknesses. He has already made his intentions to “overthrow” the coalition clear. See Robert Fox below for more.

Honeys I’m home

A 76-year-old Indian man who is thought to be the head of the largest family in the world has died today, leaving behind 38 wives, 89 children and 33 grandchildren.

Ziona Chana belonged to a sect created by his grandfather which allowed polygamy for men.  

Though Chana has been known to forget some of his children’s’ names, he lived in close quarters to them all. The entire family – bar some of his married daughters – live together in a single home in the north-eastern state of Mizoram. 

He married his first wife at the age of 17 and continued to clock up brides until the ripe old age of 60. One year, he married ten times. 

Caitlin Allen,
Reaction Reporter